(38–39) Allah Most High says: “O you who believe, what is the matter with you that, when you are told, ‘March forth in Allah’s cause,’ you cling heavily to the earth? Are you content with the life of this world instead of the Hereafter? Yet the enjoyment of this worldly life is only little compared with the Hereafter. * If you do not march forth, He will afflict you with a painful punishment and replace you with another people, while you will not harm Him in the least. Allah has power over all things.”
Know that much of this noble surah was revealed concerning the Expedition of Tabūk, when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—called upon the Muslims to campaign against the Byzantines. The weather was hot, provisions were scarce, and living conditions were difficult. Some Muslims consequently displayed a reluctance for which Allah Most High rebuked and roused them, saying:
“O you who believe!” Will you not act as faith requires and as certainty prompts (1) you—by promptly obeying Allah’s command, hastening toward His pleasure, striving against His enemies, and supporting your religion? “What is the matter with you that, when you are told, ‘March forth in Allah’s cause,’ you cling heavily to the earth?” That is, you become sluggish and incline toward the earth, ease, and remaining there.
“Are you content with the life of this world instead of the Hereafter?” That is, your condition is no different from that of someone who is content with this world, strives for it, and cares nothing for the Hereafter, as though he did not believe in it.
As for “the enjoyment of this worldly life”—the life that swayed you and that you preferred over the Hereafter—“is only little,” has Allah not given you minds with which to weigh matters and determine which deserves to be preferred?
Does not this world—from beginning to end—amount to nothing in comparison with the Hereafter? How brief is a human being’s lifespan in this world, that he should make it the ultimate end beyond which there is no other, and confine all his striving, toil, concern, and desire to this short worldly life, filled with troubles and fraught with dangers?
What reasoning, then, led you to prefer it over the abode of the Hereafter, which encompasses every delight, contains all that souls desire and eyes find pleasing, and in which you will abide forever? By Allah, no one whose heart is firmly imbued with faith, whose judgment is sound, or who is counted among people of understanding would prefer this world over the Hereafter. He then threatened them for failing to march forth, saying:
“If you do not march forth, He will afflict you with a painful punishment” in this world and the Hereafter. Failing to march forth when called to do so is among the major sins that incur the severest punishment because of the grave harm it entails. One who stays behind has disobeyed Allah Most High and violated His prohibition; he has not helped to support Allah’s religion, defended Allah’s Book and His revealed law, or aided his Muslim brothers against an enemy seeking to eradicate them and obliterate their religion. Others of weak faith may follow his example, and he may even sap the resolve of those who have undertaken to strive against Allah’s enemies. Someone in such a state truly deserves Allah’s severe threat. Thus He said: “If you do not march forth, He will afflict you with a painful punishment and replace you with another people,” who will then not be like you. “And you will not harm Him in the least,” for He, Most High, has guaranteed the support of His religion and the exaltation of His word. It therefore makes no difference whether you obey Allah’s command or cast it behind your backs.
“Allah has power over all things.” Nothing He wills is beyond His power, and no one can overcome Him.